I'm in love with this patented selection of rabbiteye blueberry named "Centra Blue". It was developed in New Zealand but from genetic material out of the American south. Here in Oregon it is just now ripening and the harvest window is from now until the middle of October or later. It is the latest blueberry for our area. As you can see the size is outstanding, but it is also one of the best flavored blueberries I've ever tried. Also firm and meaty.

I put in 500 in 2021 and another 1000 in 2022.

It also tested higher than most other blueberry varieties in antioxidant levels.

love me some fresh blueberries-looking great!

What's the growing zone on those?

Those Sir are grapes!!!

Lol just kidding! I wonder if they’d grow up here?

Looks great are they available as plants from a supplier?

I have some kabluey from Guerneys nursery that are the best blueberries I’ve ever had.

Carl, where do you recommend buying Centra Blue, blueberry plants from?

How long until they fruit after planting.

Keith

Watching.

Moosetrot

Sniper, I'm not sure what the zones are for the rabbiteyes. One year we got down to -13 and it burnt back the tops some and hurt that years crop. Following year with new growth was a gangbuster year. If you just get down into the low teens they seem to be able to handle that and still produce a crop.

We're in zone 7a. The native zone for rabbiteyes is from North Carolina down to Florida and around Georgia, Alabama and the rest of the southern states.

Keith, I'm not sure where you can get them. The Centra Blues are pretty new. I waited patiently for them to come out of quarantine and get into production at Fall Creek Nursery. But Fall Creek is a wholesale nursery. I do know that west of the Mississippi Fall Creek owns the rights to propagate.

Blueberries flower on the previous years growth so it doesn't take long.

Them the med berry?

Just committed to 15 ac

Many gs chasing a nickel

I assume it would do well in western Washington? Where do you buy the plants?
What type of soils do best? In my lower pasture I have black muck with lots of butter cups. Would that work, or will they do better in sandy, well drained soils?
How many years will it take for them to produce if I plant them.

Yes
Plants come out of Canada because everyone is East Indians. Not a bad thing
They will be friends for life.
Peat ground is bestimho if I had one

I wish I lived in a Warmer climate

Wow where do you get so many bushes an how much does a project like that cost a guy

Plants are running me about $5 each these days and about $1.75 extra in royalty fees. I get my plants from Fall Creek Nursery; the biggest blueberry nursery in the world (which is just about 30 miles from where I live).

Waggler, your muck soil might work as long as it is able to be well drained. Anymore all the commercial blueberry growers raise their plants in raised beds or berms to get that drainage. People also grow blues in sandy soils, but man oh man... you gotta really work at keeping them hydrated! In a sandy soil I would add lots of aged sawdust. Like about a 6" layer worked into a berm. Your pH ideally should be around 4.9-5.2 You may want to work in sulfur at the proper rates to get down to these levels. Takes about a year to change pH so plan that out in advance. One of the biggest reasons people fail at blueberries is they don't take soil pH into account.

Wish I could pick my blues like that Vinke....I wouldn't even have space to turn one of those behemoths around in my cramped fields. As it is I'm expecting Angela any day to come out and help me hand pick. I think I remember her promising to come out and pick if I wouldn't hire any illegals.

I've heard that older mature blueberries can self regulate the pH of their soil.

I have not heard that, but certainly plant roots are capable of exuding small amounts of acidic compounds...so there might be something to it. In calcareous soils (read that limestone based) I doubt whether the plants would ever thrive unless major soil treatment to lower pH was accomplished first. One thing to remember: It is the soil microorganisms that break down the sulfur we add to sulfuric acid. This will require time but the process is hastened by making sure there are large amounts of organic matter and moisture for the microbes. It is during the warm weather months that they are able to work their magic.